Mali – report from ETC: The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster ETC in Mali establishes and maintains essential communications services so that the relief community has the support to do what is does best – save lives, on relief web (first on ICT.wfp/Homepage), Dec 30, 2013;Website of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster ETC, on ITC/Cluster: (ETC mandate – To provide timely, predictable and effective Information Communications Technology services to support humanitarian community in carrying out their work efficiently, effectively and safely);

Mao Remains Popular in China, on Dissident Voice, by Jack A. Smith, December 29, 2013: Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese revolution and long-time Chairman of the Communist Party who died in 1976, would have been 120 years old this past December 26;

US Veterans Face Economic and Physical Hardship, on Global Research.ca (first on World Socialist Web Site WSWS), by John Rowe, Dec 28, 2013: Veterans in the United States face ongoing economic hardship. Despite being lauded by the media and political establishment as “heroes,” they face high rates of poverty and unemploymen … Among those who are disabled as a result of their service in one of the two recent wars, this rate climbs to almost 13 percent … In November, the International Business Times reported that the number of non-fatal casualties from the Iraq and Afghan wars had exceeded 1 million …;

How to end the fracas: Why has the Muslim Brotherhood shown itself to be so willing to resort to violence and what steps should be taken to end the current crisis, on Al-Ahram weekly online, by Amany Maged, Dec 17, 3012: (Islam teaches tolerance, not hatred; universal brotherhood, not enmity; peace, and not violence — Pervez Musharraf).